TV Screened: Agents of Shield (3.1) – A New World

For all of the hype that Agents of Shield received entering its first season, it was not received very well. Honestly, it was a show that took awhile to get its footing. Fans were expecting an Avengers type show because it was Marvel, but the reality, was that S.H.I.E.L.D. was never about people with superpowers. Yes, heroes have been a part of the series every now and then, but for the most part, it was about spies and an organization that worked in the shadows. The first season focused on a little known girl named Skye who became a key to the show. Midway through the first season, the show picked up and really started to gel. They then connected to Captain America: The Winter Soldier and really took off from there.

Last season we saw the shift in Skye to Daisy Johnson aka Quake. It was the introduction of the Inhumans and the beginning of the show going into a post-S.H.I.E.L.D world and shifting to a more “secret warriors” world. We were introduced to Skye’s real parents, a maniac dad and an even worse mom. Her heritage as an Inhuman was also revealed and the show transitioned well into a new world.

Daisy now has powers and has learned to control them. In the end she helps to stop her mom from unleashing terrigenesis crystals through the world that would have sparked an Inhuman revolution and killed off all of humankind not carrying the alien gene in their DNA. (The terrigen crystals activate the dormant gene and the person grows through a metamorphosis.) Unfortunately, it did not go perfectly, as some crystals were lost in the ocean and Agent Simmons was swallowed alive by an alien rock, leading us into season 3.

This first episode wasn’t the great “bang!” that many season premieres have, but it was a great episode in what it gave us. It really set up the whole season to continue the Inhuman storyline.

Eventually, Marvel Studios will bring the royal family of the Inhumans to the big screen, but in the meantime we are introduced to new Inhumans. This is a new world where the ever-growing threat of aliens and superpowered people grows. This episode does a great job in setting up where we will eventually see the rift in heroes during next year’s Captain America: Civil War. It also transitions Daisy from newbie hacker to leader of her own team searching out new Inhumans.

The weak link in the episode is how these new Inhumans are popping up. One would hope that the writers could find a more creative way to introduce them than simply having contanimated fish produce terigen properties in them to trigger the dormant gene. It’s a weak explanation, but we can live it. We are also introduced to a new government-run (or running the government) organization that is after the new threats. We got a glimpse of where Simmons is as well. And lastly, we get our first taste of new Inhuman Lash who is hunting down other Inhumans. In the comics, he has crowned himself judge and executioner of all Inhumans. If they are not worthy or powerful enough, he kills them. For his first onscreen introduction, he definitely was menacing and a force to be reckoned with.

This first episode had everything you want from the show. The action scenes were great, the dialogue and characters were fantastic, and the storyline kept you engaged. It showed how different people deal with trauma and change. The rescued Inhuman wants to go back to a normal life and the thought of losing that aggravates him. Fitz is going crazy throughout the world looking for answers on the alien rock in order to get Simmons back. He isn’t willing to let go, not yet. Coulson is also struggling to let go after all he’s been through.

The reality is that they all need someone or something to guide them. They need to feel a peace that isn’t just a friend saying “it’s going to be okay”. In our lives we can go through so much, yet, there is one constant that we should always go to, and that’s God. In Psalm 121 we get a reminder that when we look to the sky and cry out “where will my help come from,” we know that our help comes from the Lord. All we have to do is seek Him out, because all though we have taken our eyes off of Him, He has not taken His eyes off of us.

Agents of Shield looks poised to continue to build. It’s a new world in the Marvel universe with aliens and superpowered folks. I like the direction it is going as the government getting involved for all the wrong reasons. Although some have written it off, it is still successful enough to build on it’s viewership.